Mark Harrison is faced with a problem, while taking a hike in the desert he sees a blue tube of light. Intrigued, he decides to get closer, snapping picture after picture. But then, rattle, he jumps back to avoid the bite of the snake but instead falls into the beam and is teleported into a strange world. While surviving Mark critical thinks through the three steps of critical thinking: identifying and clarifying the problem, judge information, and step three, draw conclusions and solve problems. So, what does a teenager being transported to another world have to do with critical thinking? Read more to find out.
In the first step of critical thinking, identifying and clarifying the problem. Mark Harrison does a good job critical thinking. This step is all about clearly determining the problem and finding information that has to do with your problem. He does especially well expressing problems clearly. For example: Okay, I'm in another world, possibly on another planet .One with red rubbery leaves and weird-looking animals. But I'm still me. My clothes are the same. I still get hungry. So what do I do now? Mark knows that he is stuck on a planet and has to find some way to get back. So, anything irrelevant to that is unnecessary when one describes one's problem. In example: if your problem is that you don't have enough time to do your homework because you play too many video games you should state that. Not that your problem is "I play too many video games". Mark is also proficient at creating good questions he debates whether to go find the arrow people or not. When creating good questions, questions should provoke thought and not a dead end. Mark debates whether the arrow people could help him or more likely harm him and besides, with a bad question you are more likely to get a bad answer. When Mark identifies that the arrow people's life is war Mark is identifying central issues. When you identify central issues you can find the issue of a cartoon or poster. For illustration of this: if you saw a poster of a cup laying next to a garbage can the central issue would be to not litter. One instance where mark determines relevance is when he hears someone calling for the first arrow person he has met. “Lee-ta? Wak ta to ek?” He later asks if that is her name. He determined that when someone called “Lee-ta?” that was relevant to her name or in other words he determined relevance. One example of this is if you were having trouble falling asleep. Something irrelevant would be that you think that your last vacation was great, however; if you said that you drink too much caffeinated pop that would be relevant. The last skill left in the first step of critical thinking is making good comparisons. When mark is determining his food source he makes plenty of comparisons such as how easy they are to catch or gather whether or not they are poisonous.
Step two is all about judging information, such as if blank is consistent, an ideology or a fact. In fact the first skill in the second step is distinguishing facts, opinions and inferences. Mark infers that the rattling of the snake means that the snake feels threatened. A fact is something that is published in a reliable source, an opinion is a statement that can be proven neither right or wrong and finally, an inference is a prediction that is based on past knowledge. A good example of an inference is the sun will rise tomorrow. Now, Mark is stuck in some weird place and he finds himself daydreaming of pizza. He immediately corrects himself because it is totally inconsistent with his situation. Mark checked consistency. Your actions would be inconsistent if you thought that you wanted to speak more formal but yet you went around saying “wazzup?” Mark recognizes assumptions distinguishes a false from accurate image. A good critical thinker avoids stereotypes and clichés. (A cliché is a worn out or unclear phrase or saying.) Both stereotypes and clichés can lead to inaccurate images. Mark recognizes an ideology part of the skill of recognizing propaganda, bias and ideologies when he realizes that a buffalo creature can't seem to see more than ten feet. He still carefully moves through the trees unknowing if the bull is playing a trick. Mark is told that there is a man in a distant village that can tell him about the blue light but, when he gets there he is told the man is crazy, out of his mind. But yet Mark still wants to see the man and avoids a stereotype. This is one point where Mark when he notices that the arrow people's life is war larger colonies knockout smaller ones in ongoing war. Propaganda is a way of changing your mind without reasoning. Bias is a skewed look at a thing or a person and an ideology is a set of way of life that can be biased but is not necessarily.
In step three, draw conclusions and solve problems Mark is especially good at the skill recognize cause and effect. He feels himself being pulled down to his knees; Mark realizes that this is the effect of the cause, quicksand. He also can predict consequences: Slowly he put out his hand to see if the light generated heat. Too late, he heard the rattle-and felt the snake strike. He jerked his hand back and leaped to his feet. In the passage Mark predicts that if he doesn't move his hand he will have the consequence of being bit by the snake. One example of this would be if you were to stay out too late, you might predict that you won't be able to go to the park tomorrow. Mark figures that he will need to find at least some kind of food other than the “tree rocks” and when he does this he identifies alternatives. Simply put it is to find another resolution to a quandary. “It could be anywhere.” Mark says in reference to the blue light. This is an example of Mark expressing problems clearly. In this skill the object is to get the problem so that it is as short and summarized as possible. Drawing and testing conclusions is the step where based on information (called premises) you make conclusions. Mark does this when he determines that he has cracked ribs and bandages them up. The last skill left in step three Demonstrate reasoned judgment Mark doesn't do so well although he does mention the pincers on the fire bugs are like scorpions. Reasoned judgment lets you use reasoning abilities and not just see slanted or crooked views.
Mark Harrison is a decent critical thinker in the three steps of critical thinking, identifying and clarifying the problem, judging information, and the third step, drawing conclusions and solving problems. He still could do better on Demonstrating reasoned judgment but Mark did do a great job on step 1 especially on the skill of expressing problems clearly. Mark eventually does get out of the strange world with weird animals, bizarre plants, and unusual people. Although most people sure wouldn't think that a character in a fantasy novel could help them learn about critical thinking it can.
